It's a Friday afternoon and wouldn't you know it, Google set loose an update to the Maps app just in time for the weekend to begin. (Not like some of us didn't have plans...) Like so many recent updates to Maps, this one has some pretty notable changes worth checking out. There's a new settings screen for controlling how your personal content shows up in the app and the notification settings have been organized into sub-groups for easier browsing. A shortcut has been added to get into your timeline quickly, and it looks like level 3 Local Guides can now work with some of the recently added features for making contributions to places nearby. There are even a couple things in a teardown related to pictures of food and voting on reviews. As always, keep an eye out for other new features that we may have missed and drop a line in the comments below.

What's New

Unofficial Changelog:

Level 3 Local Guides can now access the "Improve the map near you" features

Organized notification settings screen

New personal content settings screen

Shortcut to your timeline

Organized notification settings

Left: previous version. Center + Right: latest version.

The notification settings screen has been growing pretty quickly over the last year, reaching eleven different toggles with the last notable update. If it got much longer, looking for the toggle you want could become a little challenging. This shouldn't be a problem anymore, the latest update to Maps has broken the list down into four sub-groups to make them a little easier to quickly track down. There aren't any new or removed toggles, they've just been sorted into pockets.

Personal content settings

Cleanup of the notification toggles isn't the only big change to the Settings screen, there's also a new entry called 'personal content.' The options here allow users to determine how much and what type of personal information should appear and be used in the Maps app. Right now you can choose whether addresses from your contact list should appear on the map and if your photos should be in your timeline. There are also shortcuts to the device-wide location settings and location history, plus options to delete location history.

This screen can be reached through an entry in the main Settings screen, but there's also a gear icon at the top right of the "your places" screen that leads here.

Shortcut to your timeline

Most regular users probably aren't very aware of the Timeline screen, but some people open it up pretty frequently. If you're sick of going through the steps of opening Maps, then the nav drawer, and finally tapping on your timeline, there's a new shortcut for you. Seriously, it is literally a new shortcut.

To place the timeline shortcut on your home screen, get into the timeline screen and tap the overflow menu at the top right. Look for an option to "add to home screen" and tap it. Just like the Driving Mode shortcut added earlier this year, this one is a quick way to jump straight to the mode you want to be in.

As an aside, though it's not particularly relevant in this section, there was also an old menu item named "Timeline settings" that has been renamed to "Settings" in this version. It inexplicably links to the new personal content screen rather than the timeline settings. I think this is a bug, but it's always tough to tell.

Improve map info expands to Local Guides Level 3

Earlier this week, Google opened up a new set of tools for Local Guides to easily discover places nearby that might be in need of some more information, or asking users to help confirm edits from other contributors. These features were originally open to level 4 Local Guides and above; but with this update, it seems to now show up for level 3 members, as well. Corbin checked his account on the new version and still doesn't have access, so it looks like level 2 is still out of the loop.

Teardown

Disclaimer: Teardowns are based on evidence found inside of apks (Android's application package) and are necessarily speculative and usually based on incomplete information. It's possible that the guesses made here are totally and completely wrong. Even when predictions are correct, there is always a chance that plans could change or may be canceled entirely. Much like rumors, nothing is certain until it's officially announced and released.

The features discussed below are probably not live yet, or may only be live for a small percentage of users. Unless stated otherwise, don't expect to see these features if you install the apk.

Reviewing reviews

Great reviews are hard to come by, just look at the Books section of the Play Store. However, it doesn't take a lot of work to offer a genuinely meaningful review, or even some helpful advice. Google's sorting algorithms don't always put the right reviews at the top of the list, but we'll soon have the ability to help with that. Maps is going to add a mechanism so users can mark reviews when they're helpful, which will help other people find and read them, as well.

This isn't a thumbs up or down voting feature, but rather, it relies simply on up-votes to determine the value of a review. Viewers will be able to see how many other people found reviews helpful and contribute their own votes if they agree.

I won't deny that I prefer to be able to vote down bad reviews. There's a difference between a helpful and well written review, one that has valid opinions but isn't written very clearly, and one with the wrong expectations and terrible attitude. Nevertheless, any means of lifting good reviews to the top is definitely a good thing. Hopefully people will use it as intended and not abuse it too much.

Pictures for foodies

Restaurants have a particularly unique element that other types of businesses don't really experience: people aren't just submitting pictures of places, but also of the food. Open up the album for almost any restaurant and you're bound to see dozens of top-down angles on salads, steaks, and soups. You might even see shots of shots (haha) and side-angles of cocktails.

As a result, people looking for pictures of a venue will have to dig through a mountain of food porn while they're trying to see what the venue actually looks like. On the other hand, you might want to look at some dishes to get a grasp on what the chef has put together, and all those pictures from outside the door aren't of much use. In either case, there are too many pictures mixed into a single pot. This is a problem Maps aims to fix by having users clearly upload their cuisine photography separately.

The strings are a little vague at the moment, so it's hard to make a good guess about how they will be used or even where exactly they will appear, but it's clear that the main focus is on making it clear that certain photos are of food. I also notice the title line that reads "from the menu," which calls to mind a possibly related feature for placing orders that turned up a few weeks ago in Maps v9.35. It's too early to be sure if the two features are related, but it would be very interesting to see user-contributed photos alongside an ordering system.

Download

The APK is signed by Google and upgrades your existing app. The cryptographic signature guarantees that the file is safe to install and was not tampered with in any way. Rather than wait for Google to push this download to your devices, which can take days, download and install it just like any other APK.

And no, neither came from Backdrops. I can't remember who created the material-ish one, but it was floating around long before Backdrops came out. The other, a photo of some mountains, was included as a stock background on the HTC One M9.

Peter

I don't have the Google Contacts option in Personal Settings on my devices. Maybe due to using a Google Apps for domains account?

makapav

Yes correct. Lots of data restrictions for Apps accounts.

tim242

As if this app wasn't bloated enough. Ugggh. Can we get a Dup version of this app?

Peter Silie

You think Maps is bloated? IMO it's getting more and more perfect with each update.

tim242

It's a clusterfuck. They are loading it with too many options. Then they want to push that explore crap in your face, but bury useful features like traffic, in the slide out menu.

pallzoltan

Tim, what does satisfy you in this world? Can you tell me 5 examples, excluding Samsung Pay?

Oh that's weird because it was in the release notes on the Play Store for me when I downloaded this beta version.

Uren Patel

I'm seeing a speed limit option.

Charlottejlewis3

Google is paying 97$ per hour! Work for few hours and have longer with friends & family! !ro384f:
On tuesday I got a great new Land Rover Range Rover from having earned $8752 this last four weeks.. Its the most-financialy rewarding I've had.. It sounds unbelievable but you wont forgive yourself if you don’t check it
!ro384f:
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Dmitry Kanunnikoff

Seems this feature is working for drivers only. I don't have a car, and that feature is missing.

pallzoltan

I use navigation daily but don't see it either. Currently in Moscow.

Joseph Seboek

The option us there but don't see it working yet when driving?

andy_o

It's been there since 9.36, and on 9.35 the code made an appearance, since these are betas, probably will go live in the next stable update.

Joseph Seboek

Thanks Andy. I've also noticed the main app works more like the driving shortcut. Sometimes that is okay, but others it can be frustrating as I can't get to the main app for more saved routes, etc.

andy_o

I'm not sure I get what you mean, I don't notice any significant difference at the time of opening the main app.

Joseph Seboek

Maps was opening into drive mode and I was not using the shortcut. I could not get to the main app. Found out the issue...I had enabled car mode when connecting to my cars Bluetooth. This was through another app that controls how Bluetooth interacts with my phone, volume, etc. Turned this setting off and maps is running like it should.

Jan van Eijck

This morning pleasantly surprised that in the lower right corner of my navigation screen, a speed limit sign was visible. But the fun was short, because half an hour into my commute it wasn't visible anymore.
I guess, they're playing with server side settings :-)

Definitely don't see the same option for speed limit on my app! Is this a server side thing for some reason?

Emilylehlers

Google is paying 97$ per hour! Work for few hours and have longer with friends & family! !ri121f:
On tuesday I got a great new Land Rover Range Rover from having earned $8752 this last four weeks.. Its the most-financialy rewarding I've had.. It sounds unbelievable but you wont forgive yourself if you don’t check it
!ri121f:
➽➽
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pallzoltan

What phone is this? You have a huge display! Also, tell us where you live, maybe it's location limited.

That looks great! It seems to be a server side option so I hope to test it out soon.

Gio Sani

Did it tell also before my exact coordinates over my position's pin?

Bob Walker

I wish they would stop tinkering around the edges and add Ordnance Survey Traveler Series.

g f

i wish they would allow navigation from a saved "My Maps"....map

reneMAC

nm

g f

lol, was just about to reply....yep, still sucks in wi-fi only mode

reneMAC

Well I wasnt gonna say it sucks in wifi mode, actually worked well for me a couple of times when I was in areas with no cell service. Of course I had pre-loaded those areas prior to leaving (which is a drawback, as you may not always know where there is no service), as I knew the potential was there to not have service. That however is not the same as 'my maps' which is why I changed my comment earlier.

Yeah - still have to manually check Google+'s location section for this info.

Krisu

Finally I can get rid of my contacts that appear on maps.

Anthony Tremaine

Hopefully this update will fix the searching for GPS problem I've been having with maps on nougat. Waze works good but the GPS radio has been spotty ever since nougat update. With marshmallow never had a problem.

momin khan

Google Maps is a desktop web mapping service developed by Google. It offers satellite imagery, street maps, 360° panoramic views of streets (Street View), real-time traffic conditions (Google Traffic), and route planning for traveling by foot, car, bicycle (in beta), or public transportation.
Google Maps provides a route planner under "Get Directions".[7] Up to four modes of transportation are available depending on the area: driving, public transit (see the Google Transit section below), walking, and bicycling. In combination with Google Street View, issues such as parking, turning lanes, and one-way streets can be viewed before traveling.tamil ringtones